Welcome Home…….

Today Malaysia mourns and remembers. 37 days after the loss of flight MH17 and 298 souls, the first of the remains of the Malaysian victims has returned home. Today we welcome home to rest 20 of the 48 Malaysians who were on board MH17. Today at 10.55 am local time, the nation came to a standstill and observed a moment of silence. As the flags flew at half mast and the traffic on the roads came to a halt and businesses and offices all found a way to show their respect, 17 coffins and 3 urns were given a military escort from the plane that had carried them one last time from Amsterdam to start their journey home to their loved ones.

Prayers were held at the mosques and at temples and churches. Many Christians are observing a half day fast. Memorial walls have been set up all over for passerbys to leave messages of condolences.

Welcome home …….. and rest in peace.

The bodies being received at the KL International Airport (source: AFP)Malaysian Airlines Stewardesses Grieving (Source :BBC)

Paul Rajasingam Sivagnanam, a top IT executive with Shell Malaysia, was travelling with his wife Mabel and son Matthew Ezekiel, 10.

Tambi Jiee (M)

Ariza Ghazalee (F)

Mohd Afif Tambi (M)

Mohd Afruz Tambi (M)

Mohd Afzal Tambi (M)

Marsha Azmeena Tambi (F)

Tambi Jiee, 49, from Sarawak, was with his wife Ariza Ghazalee, 47, and four children – Mohd Afif, 19, Mohd Afzal, 17, Marsha Azmeena, 15, and Mohd Afruz, 13, on the way back from Kazakhstan transiting via Amsterdam. The Kuching family was returning home for good from Kazakhstan, where Tambi had been working for about three years as a Shell employee.

Shaliza Zaina Dewa (F)

A relative of local singer Hattan, Shaliza Zaina, 45, had been based in Melbourne with her Dutch husband and three children aged eight, 12 and 15 for many years now. Returning from a holiday in the Netherlands, Shaliza and her family were planning to stop over in Kajang, Selangor, for a week to celebrate Hari Raya with her family before returning to Australia.

Subashini Jeyaretnam (F)

Kaela Maya Jay Goes (F)

Subashini, better known as Shuba Jaya, a performing arts actress from Kuala Lumpur, and her Dutch husband Paul Goes were returning to Kuala Lumpur after taking their 21-month-old daughter, Kaela, to visit her grandparents in the Netherlands for the first time. Kaela was notably delivered via unassisted home birth.

Karamjit Singh Karnail Singh (M)

Karamjit was a safety adviser with the Safety, Health and Environment Department of ExxonMobil. He had worked at the Usan oil field in Nigeria. Karamjit, 54, was on the way home to Kuala Lumpur.

Mohd Ali Mohd Salim (M)

Mohd Ali Mohd Salim, 30, was furthering his studies and preparing a thesis on Psychology Studies at the doctorate of philosophy (PhD) level in Amsterdam. His brother Mohd Zaki said Ali was “very excited to be back for Raya with the family.” He was scheduled to join Universiti Sains Malaysia next year after completing his doctorate.

Meling Mula (M)

Bintulu scaffolder Meling Mula, 48, had promised to take his wife and three children on a holiday after returning from an overseas posting. The eldest, Maryline Sindun, said he placed great importance on education.

Ng Qing Zhen (M)

Ng was an engineer from Shah Alam who boarded MH17 after a business trip to Amsterdam. He had changed his flight at the last minute to reach home sooner, having originally planned to fly to Singapore and transfer back to Kuala Lumpur. He was an only son, and left behind a wife and a son aged four.

Ng Shi Ing (F)

Benjamin Jian Han Lee (M)

Elisabeth Ng Lye Ti (F)

The academic specialising in the teaching of English as a second language went to Belgium to attend a conference on language learning, She was also looking at the possibility of pursuing a doctorate at the University of Antwerp. On July 5, she went to Europe with her year-old son Benjamin and her 33-year-old sister Elisabeth.

Rahimmah Noor (F)

Rahimmah, 67, stayed in Geneva for about 30 years and had planned a six-week holiday to celebrate Raya with her family here.

Hasni Hardi Parlan (M)

The oil and gas engineer was a gentle soul who called home daily no matter where he was stationed. The 32-year-old loved ‘ayam masak merah’ and was headed home for Raya to spend a few months with his family.

Datin Kaushalya Jairamdass Punjabi (F)

Better known as Datin Priya Vijendran, she was a doting grandmother who was returning home after spending nearly a month with her two grandchildren – seven-year-old Chiara and nine-year-old Leo, the children of her second son Sanjay – in Lieden, Amsterdam.

Siti Amirah Parawira (F)

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s step-grandmother Puan Sri Siti Amirah was among those killed. According to a family member, the 83-year-old was travelling alone back to Indonesia from Amsterdam.

Siew Poh Tan (F)

The 85-year-old lady was travelling with her daughter Loh Yan Hwa and her son-in-law Fan Shun Po, both of whom owned two restaurants, one of which is a Michelin-billed restaurant named Asian Glories, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Elaine Teoh (F)

Elaine Teoh was on board the doomed flight with her Dutch boyfriend Emiel Mahler. The couple, both 27, were living in Melbourne and working in the financial sector.

Capt Wan Amran from Kuala Kangsar, Perak, is remembered as a kind-hearted and charitable man who loved to joke, said niece Nur Suraya Dusuki, 29. He had been piloting Boeing aircraft for more than 20 years and had been planning to perform the Haj at the end of the year. Capt Wan Amran leaves a wife and two sons, aged nine and seven.

2. Capt Eugene Choo Jin Leong, 45, pilot

Capt Eugene Choo from Seremban was a humble family man who was always friendly, say colleagues and neighbours. The former student of SM Ibrahim, Sungai Petani, Kedah, was a passionate biker. Capt Eugene leaves a wife and two sons, aged 13 and 10.

3. Ahmad Hakimi Hanapi, 29, first officer

Ahmad Hakimi was said to be a very quiet person but he was also very kind and helpful. Although fond of cracking jokes, Hakimi was always very soft-spoken, never raising his voice even when faced with stressful situations.

4. Muhd Firdaus Abdul Rahim, 27, first officer

Muhd Firdaus achieved his childhood dream of being a pilot when he started a career with Malaysia Airlines (MAS). He leaves a wife and a son.

5. Mohd Ghafar Abu Bakar, 54, in-flight supervisor

Mohd Ghafar was a member of Masjid Bukit Indah, Ampang, where he lived. He is remembered by his friends as a principled and pious man with a good heart.

6. Dora Shahila Kassim, 47, chief stewardess

Dora Shahila, a single mother who was known to be very close to her 15-year-old daughter Diyana Yazeera, currently studying in Seremban. Diyana regularly tweets about how much she misses her “superhero” mother since the crash, and is constantly sending prayers to Dora.

7. Azrina Yakob, 41, chief stewardess

Azrina Yakob, the second of four siblings, had worked with MAS for 20 years. She is survived by her husband and two children aged six and three. Azrina’s mother Habibah Ismail said that her daughter always kept in touch with her and that she had planned to go back to her village for Hari Raya with her family.

8. Lee Hui Ping, 42, leading stewardess

A mother of three, originally from Kelantan. A warm and friendly person.

9. Mastura Mustafa, 40, leading stewardess

Mastura was a whiz in the kitchen, often whipping up local delicacies. Her 10-year-old son Muhriz Marzaidi said that his mother would usually cook his favourite food after coming back from work overseas. The last time Muhriz saw his mother was when they broke fast together with his favourite dishes before Mastura boarded Flight MH17.

10. Chong Yee Pheng, 40, flight stewardess

It was her ambition to see the world and she spent 18 years doing that. She was 22 when she joined the airline.

11. Shaikh Mohd Noor Mahmood, 44, flight steward

Shaikh Mohd Noor was a romantic, caring and jovial person, said his wife, stewardess Mardiani Mahdi. Shaikh Mohd Noor leaves three children aged 13, 12 and six with his ex-wife and a two-year-old daughter with Mardiani.

12. Sanjid Singh Sandhu, 41, flight steward

Also known as Bob, Sanjid was described as a generous, obedient and loving son by his father, Jijar Singh, 71. Sanjid was also a good-natured person, befriending people regardless of race or religion. During his wake on Aug 10, nearly a thousand mourners of diverse backgrounds attended to pay their last respects to him. He leaves a wife, MAS flight stewardess Tan Bee Geok, and their son Hans.

13. Hamfazlin Sham Mohamed Arifin, 38, flight stewardess

Hamfazlin leaves a husband and two sons, aged eight and two.

14. Nur Shazana Mohamed Salleh, 31, flight stewardess

A stewardess of nine years and an avid traveller, Nur Shazana lived her dream of seeing the world with MAS. The eldest of four was also a football fan and according to a Facebook post during the World Cup, she had enjoyed the final between Germany and Argentina. Before the MH17 crash, Nur Shazana had made plans to celebrate Hari Raya in Penang with her family.

15. Angeline Premila Rajandaran, 30, flight stewardess

The only girl among three siblings, Angeline was described as a good-natured person and was an animal lover. Her final message to her family in Klang, Selangor, was: “Look after my dog Lexi.”

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5 thoughts on “Welcome Home…….”

What I try and fail at in not getting pissed off about this is that the person who aimed and fired the rocket at a non combatant airliner was most likely celebrated for his great shot. The so called civilized Russians are protecting the rebel unit that did this and simply waiting for enough atrocities to happen where this one will fade. All of the world has to stop forgetting the “collateral damage” of wars.

Viewing the World Through the Observation of Squirrels

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Lone Grey Squirrel
I am a scientist who enjoy the arts; a socialist who wishes to be rich; a food enthusiast who wishes to be skinny and a human who loves squirrels. Just a nutter trying to make sense of the world.